Your Cat’s Skin & Coat System

The skin is the largest organ your cat has and represents 12% of a cat’s total body weight.

Of the three key protective systems (the immune system, the digestive system and the skin & coat system), the skin and coat are your cat’s first line of defense against harmful bacterium, parasites, UV light, environmental chemicals, injury and the elements. The skin and coat are also important in regulating your cat’s body temperature in both hot and cold weather.

The hair coat, in turn, provides a layer of protection for the skin. The cat has two basic types of hairs: primary hairs and secondary hairs. The primary hairs are coarser, straight and finely tapered. The secondary hairs are very fine, evenly crimped, 10-20 times more numerous than the primary hairs and very “sticky” to clothing – as anyone who has held a cat knows!

A hair grows out of a hair follicle (pore) deeply embedded in the skin. At the base of the hair follicle is the root, where the hair actually grows and the hair shaft attaches.

Hairs do not grow continuously but rather in cycles. During the growth phase of a hair cycle, the hair grows from the hair follicle until the genetically pre-determined length is attained. This length varies according to body region and your cat’s genetic makeup.

Once at full length, each hair goes into a resting stage for another pre-determined period of time. Eventually the hair loosens and falls out or is groomed out, completing the cycle. It should be noted that the hair cycle varies from cat to cat and is controlled by a variety of inter-related factors including ambient temperature, season, hormones, overall health status, and nutrition.

An average domestic short-haired cat produces one-third of a pound of hair annually (Hendriks, W.H. 1997) – remarkable when you consider how little each hair weighs. This lost protein must be replenished with dietary sources. Unfortunately, hair is not digestible, meaning it is not recyclable.

Because hair is predominately protein, nutrition has profound influence on both the quality and quantity of hair produced. Therefore any hair that is ingested is either passed intact in the stool or is eventually coughed back up as a hairball. Balanced Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids are also very important nutrients for healthy skin and coats. Poor nutrition will eventually result in a dry, dull, brittle and thin hair coat.

Normal hair replacement is not patchy. It is always in a mosaic pattern because neighboring hair follicles are in different stages of the hair growth cycle at any one time. This results in an even, generalized hair loss and growth. Bald spots or patchy loss would indicate a medical problem requiring a veterinary examination.

If you have cats, you're always going to have cat hairs on your clothes and furniture. While you can not control the shedding cycle, you can help control where much of that excess hair ends up. Brushing your cat at least once daily will significantly decrease the amount of loose hair in your house and on your clothes.

In addition, brushing will decrease the amount of hair that ends up in a cat’s stomach as a result of routine tongue grooming – hair that sometimes comes back up as hairballs. If your cat still has problems with hairballs even with frequent brushings, there are a number of over-the-counter hairball remedies available, as well as very effective hairball management diets designed to keep hairballs moving through and not building up.

So what can you do to help maintain a healthy skin and hair coat in your cat?

• Select a breed of cat that matches your willingness to keep them well groomed and fits your tolerance level for shed hair in the house and on your clothes.
• Groom your cat at least once daily.
• Feed a premium quality diet specifically formulated to maintain a healthy skin and hair coat.
• If hairballs are an ongoing problem, try a hairball control diet.
• Be a more informed and observant care giver. See your veterinarian at the first sign of a skin or coat problem. Remember, early detection and appropriate treatment of skin and coat problems are the keys to rapid healing.